A Message from
Head Coach George Adcock
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2020-21 Registration
Fees & How to register online
A Message from KCB Parent Board
Safe Sport
Tech Suit Restrictions for 12 & Under
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Blazers Spring Awards
MV Performance Highlights
KCB Swimmer Spotlight
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Upcoming Team Events & KCB Programs |
Swim-a-Thon Save the Date
Swim-a-thon T-shirt Design Contest
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Parent Corner - Featured Article
Good Reads - Articles & Resources from USA Swimming, Swim Swam or MV Swimming
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A Message from Head Coach George Adcock: |
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Since school is back in session, we hope that you are all settling into your new routine. We as a team hope that we are able to contribute to that by providing some more consistency. As you all know by now we have been able to resume swimming at the SMSD Aquatic Center. We are still working to gain access to other pools that we would normally be using in the Olathe and Shawnee Mission School District school districts. In the meantime, we do have a schedule that provides our team with a base we can build from. While we are not out of the woods or anywhere close to normal, we are starting a new phase.
We will be opening registration for returning members of our team today, September 21st. Because we are still working under COVID distancing and occupancy limitations we do have limitations on group sizes. Please see information regarding registration below. As things are slowly and steadily moving forward we must still remain vigilant in our operations to best ensure the safety of our members and their families.
We have been and will continue to be on the forefront of the discussions and planning for safely running swim meets through Missouri Valley Swimming and hope to have some further racing opportunities when we can safely and productively.
Thank you to all of our families, members and staff for their continued vigilance as we move through these trying times. As we see the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, we know that as it gets brighter we will try and run towards it. We must remain vigilant in our safety protocols and not get lax, and hold onto our feeling of unity and connection as we come out the otherside.
Coach George Adcock
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Registering for the 2020-21 season, fees and how to register online, a message from the KCB Parent Board and information about Safe Sport and the recently implemented tech suit restrictions for 12 & under. |
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Due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, we will start our season with some restrictions due to the local health and safety requirements. Each of our groups will have size limitations depending on the facility. We are opening our registration this week to current members to allow you the first right of refusal for the respective groups. Once a group is full, we will be placing swimmers on a waitlist.
For our Age Group and Junior II programs, you will need to choose based upon days of the week and location at the time of registration. Your election at this time will be the baseline for the foreseeable future. At this time, we will not allow athletes to visit other groups/locations to make up a missed practice. We hope that as the community emerges from the current health crisis, we will be able offer flexibility and options for our families.
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Anticipated Schedules and Locations* |
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Blue Valley North
Monday and Wednesday
5:45-7pm
Blue Valley West
Tuesday and Thursday
5:45-7pm
We will also have Saturday morning practices (8:30-9:30 am @SMAC) for these groups. We are looking at ways to best utilize the space given the restrictions.
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Blue Valley North
Tuesday and Thursday
5:45-7pm
Blue Valley West
Monday and Wednesday
5:45-7pm
We will also have Saturday morning practices (8:30-9:30 am @SMAC) for these groups. We are looking at ways to best utilize the space given the restrictions.
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Blue Valley North
Monday - Thursday 7-8.30pm
Saturday 7.30-8.30am SMAC
Blue Valley West
Monday - Thursday 7-8.30pm
Saturday 7.30-8.30am SMAC
Junior II will also have dryland added to their schedules and may start as early as 6.30 pm; group coaches will provide weekly schedules.
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Junior I, Senior I & National |
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Practice four-six days per week, coaches will provide weekly schedules for any changes. All groups will be primarily based out of SMAC. |
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**Please remember that all practices and locations are subject to change depending on facility availability. We will continue abiding by the recommendations of USA swimming, Missouri Valley swimming, Johnson County Health and Environment, JCPRD and any other relevant governing organization during any/all Blazers Activities.**
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At the time of registration, you will be charged for the Annual Registration ($200), USA Swimming 2021 Membership ($85) and the applicable group’s October Monthly Training Dues (usually billed on 10/1/2020). The fees for each respective group:
Age Group I & II $110 per month
Junior II $140 per month
Junior I $165 per month
Senior I $165 per month
National $210 per month
If you need to separate the total amount owed over several payments, please select “Paid by Check” on the final registration. Then email Stacy Christie at stacy.christie@jocogov.org to set up a payment plan.
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To begin your online registration, click the link above or log in to your Team Unify account through our homepage: www.kcblazers.com.
1. Scroll down on the homepage to ‘Events’,
click ‘2020-21 Registration Button’ and
select ‘Check Status or Continue’.
2. Fill out and update all information
requested. Continue to follow the prompts
making sure to select the appropriate group
and location, if necessary.
3. On the final registration page, select
pay by “Credit Card” or “Check”. If paying
via check, mail your check to our office:
Kansas City Blazers
6501 Antioch Rd
Merriam KS 66202
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Once the registration process has been completed, swimmers will be approved by a staff member. |
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A Message from the SANTA FE Trailblazers Parent Association |
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As we open our registration for the 2020-21 season, the Blazer's Parent Board wanted to remind everyone of some special considerations we made regarding fees for the year. We shared these details in late July in our note dated July 23, 2020. Some points to remember from that communication: |
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- To be sensitive to our community and potential financial stress, we have elected to keep fees flat for all practice groups. We based this decision on the expectation that the overall number of participants will be similar to last year, and our ability to run regional swim meets in 2021 will not be substantially curbed by COVID safety practices.
- If we find that these assumptions are not realistic in early December, our Board may need to reassess our fee structure. We will start any such re-assessment by gathering feedback from you to ensure we align with the membership's priorities.
- If we find that these assumptions are not realistic in early December, our Board may need to reassess our fee structure. We will start any such re-assessment by gathering feedback from you to ensure we align with the membership's priorities.
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As always, we support members who have been impacted by COVID or any other unexpected change. Please reach out to Stacy Christie or any of our Board members (kcbparentboard@gmail.com) if fees or registration are creating an unreasonable burden for your family. We want to make sure everyone's Blazer experience can continue regardless of what challenges we face. We are in this thing together.
Thanks to all for supporting our coaches and club during this unprecedented and chaotic time. We can't say enough about how proud we are of how our membership and staff have handled the stress of this situation. Over the past few weeks, we have seen many examples of how our team has risen to unexpected challenges, creativity, and enthusiasm. What could have been a real downer turned into some unique and fun ways to train together—just amazing what a team can do! Go Blazers!!
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This past year the Blazers spent a lot of time becoming a Safe Sport Certified Program, USA Swimming's certification process to show clubs' commitment to providing a healthy and safe environment for their athletes. The health and safety of our athletes will always be our top priority and we were proud to be one of the first five teams in Missouri Valley Swimming to be recognized as a Safe Sport Certified Program. |
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This summer, through a Missouri Valley Swimming incentive program we were able to throw a small celebration of our achievement. While it wasn't our usual way of celebrating, the kids enjoyed the donuts and popsicles after practice!
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Tech Suit Restriction for 12 & Under Swimmers |
As was previously announced, starting September 1, 2020 USA Swimming is banning tech suits for 12-under swimmers “at any Sanctioned, Approved, or Observed meet” (Rule 102.8). The only exceptions are for Junior Nationals, U.S. Opens, National Championships, and Olympic Trials. A complete breakdown of approved swimwear can be found on page 30 of the 2020 Rulebook.
You can find USA Swimming’s news release and a complete list of approved suits here.
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Here is a quick recap of all of our Blazers performance highlights from last season! |
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2020 Spring Blazer Awards |
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Congratulations to all of our Blazer swimmers for a job well done this past year! |
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Hardest Worker
Addie Clark
Sohum Bhagwat
Declan Rydzel
Mimi Domazet
Sophia Sponseller
Emmaline Heimann
Eric Dong
Claire Wicker
Kaya Alvegaard-Struble
Tess Boyer
Abby King
Chloe Thompson
Annika Finzen
Sam Peterson
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Most Improved
Ella Taylor
Claire Zell
Jan Beltran
Avery Weins
Bobby Guo
Clarissa Sharpe
Andrew Jamison
Bennett Molitor-Kirsch
Maddy Stephens
Jackson Nely
Saylor Fiocati
Junior Lopez
Presley Baber
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Blazer Award
Sasha Weiner
Anne Bowser
Kinley Baber
Preston Chang
Matthew Warren
Tyler Sproul
Ella Bartholf
Zane Laing
Andrea Cervantes
Deanna Provost
Alec Liu
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“In the worst of times, be at your best- Full of patience, compassion and selflessness. Always pursue your dreams.” - Brian Howard, 2002
For exceeding expectations set forth by the Blazers for exemplifying our core values of sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, respect, loyalty, integrity, discipline and leadership.
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12 & Under Award:
Clarissa Sharpe
For her ever present smile, joy, energy, kindness and leadership in her pursuit of excellence.
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13 & Over Award:
Sam Peterson
For his drive, consistency, humor, willingness to adapt and thoughtful pursuit of excellence.
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This award is presented in memory of Brian Howard to recognize the Blazers who most embody and exude his spirit in the pursuit of excellence. |
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2020 Brian Howard Scholarship |
We have some great news to announce! On behalf of the Howard family and the Kansas City Blazers, the Brian Howard Scholarship was awarded to Richie Stewart the year. Richie has set off to study and swim at Denison University.
Richie’s dedication to the Blazers program, work ethic and desire to overcome any obstacles to improve his swimming, while excelling in his studies is a great example of how to embody the spirit of Brian Howard. We hope that he continues in that vein during his time at Dennison, holding on to the nine Blazers values true; Sportsmanship, Teamwork, Responsibility, Respect, Loyalty, Integrity, Honesty, Discipline & Leadership. These values are the basis of our program and will provide a great guide in setting him up for long term success.
Best of luck, Richie!
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Blazer Performance Highlights from Missouri Valley Swimming |
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Congratulations to our KCB Swimmers for being recognized for their Commitment to Excellence in Missouri Valley Swimming! |
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Congratulations to the following KCB athletes for making the Missouri Valley Top 5:
Kaya Alvegaard-Struble
Kinley Baber
Tess Boyer
Annika Finzen
Nicholas Frank
Kevin Glenn
JP Hynes
Zane Laing
Sean Lee
Micah Leslie
Gerardo Lopez
John McClelland
Nathan Weiner
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Congratulations to all athletes named to the Missouri Valley
2019-2020 All-Academic Team!
Presley Baber
Tess Boyer
Yaseen El-Demerdash
Izzy Gifford
Abby King
Cameron Lee
Alec Liu
Sasha Malik
Michael Mayo
Caroline Orr
Samuel Peterson
Caroline Polhemus
Reagan Salsbury
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We take pride in the accomplishments of our Blazer Athletes and highlight our swimmers excelling in and out of the water through our social media! |
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For an in-depth look at the athletes featured, give us a follow! |
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Alec Liu name National Merit Semifinalist! |
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Congratulations to Blazer National Team's Alec Liu on being named a National Merit Semifinalist! Alec was one of the forty-nine Blue Valley Seniors named to the semifinalists after taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/MNSQT) and they represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors! Well done, Alec! (Post coming soon!) |
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Samantha Walley
KCB Record Breaker in the Girls 8 & Under 100 Butterfly - 1:42.98
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Sasha Weiner
KCB Record Breaker in the Girls 8 & Under 25 Back [18.31], 50 Back [36.89] 100 Back [1:19.69], 50 Butterfly [34.30] & 50 Freestyle [30.30]
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Annika Finzen
MV Female of the Year Finalist
MV Performance of the Year Finalist
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Izzy Gifford
MV Junior Athlete Representative
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Richie Stewart
2019 Brian Howard Inspirational Swimmer Scholarship Recipient
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Upcoming Team Events & Programs |
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Upcoming Team Events and information about our ongoing Blazer Programs.
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**Save the Date**
Date: October 31, 2020
Location: TBA
Time: TBA
Calling all ARTISTS!
Our Swim-a-thon this year has been scheduled for Saturday October 31st. This year we are holding a Swim-a-thon T-shirt Design Contest. If you (swimmer or someone in your family) love to draw, love Fall and/or Halloween and are creative WE NEED YOU!
If you are interested in participating in our Swim-a-thon T-shirt Design Contest, please send an email to Stacy Christie (Stacy.Christie@jocogov.org) before NOON THIS coming Friday September 25th. We will send an email to all those interested Friday afternoon with more details. Can't wait to see your SWIM-TACULAR designs!
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Evaluations
Do you have a friend interested in joining the Blazers? We ask all prospective swimmers to participate in an evaluation. This evaluation process allows our coaching staff to place swimmers in the appropriate practice group based upon their current skill and for their long-term development and success.
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Pre-Blazers Program
Pre-Blazers is our pre-competitive program designed to provide an introduction to competitive swimming through skill development and having fun! For swimmers ages 6 - 14 years old, who are water safe, have had swimming lessons and are interested in learning about competitive swimming. This program is offered twice a week and provides a bridge between lessons and competitive swimming.
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Senior Prep
Our Senior Prep Group offers a broad-based training approach for athletes 13 years and older. The group's emphasis is on general conditioning along with technique work. This group is appropriate for swimmers, who enjoy competitive swimming, are interested in improving their skills and increasing their fitness for high school swimming or summer league.
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For more information on upcoming team events and programs, please visit our website! |
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Suggested articles, volunteer opportunities and additional team information to help support our swimmers and our club.
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Swimming – like life – is always loaded with the “uncontrollable.” That is, there are always things in this sport that you have no direct control over – how big, strong and fast...
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As we navigate through our return to swim and school it is important to remain as positive and optimistic as possible. There will always be things in life, and swimming, that are out of our control. For this month's Parent Corner we want to give you, and your swimmers, something to help focus on the things you can control. Specifically, how we respond to adversity and disappointment.
We hope you find this article helpful!
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Why Become A USA Swimming Official? |
To gain a better understanding of your child's sport,
To have the best spot on deck for watching everyone swim,
To satisfy your volunteer hour requirement,
And many other perks like free meals and heat sheet!
For more information on becoming a USA Swim Official contact Christian Frank, Blazers Official's Coordinator.
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What is a Blazer Booster? |
The Blazers Booster Program gives parents the ability to directly impact the overall team experience by assisting in funding coaching development and equipment to assure our program offers quality experiences to the swimmers and fans. A new sound system, starter horn, public address system, are some examples of equipment that is needed. Click the link for a list of more specific benefits for the two levels of Booster supporters.
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The Minor Athlete Protection Policy (MAAPP), which was mandated by the US Center for Safe Sport, addresses one-on-one interactions, social media and electronic communications, travel: local and team, locker rooms and changing areas and massages, rubdowns and athletic training modalities.
You can learn more about USA Swimming MAAPP on the USA Swimming website and to read the full policy please click the link below.
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Time Standards, meet information and general inforamtion about our LSC (Local Swimming Committee).
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Roadmap to competition: How each meet fits into my swimmers season |
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Swim meets are selected for each group and the team due to a variety of factors:
- Level of Competition
- Training cycle
- Team cohesiveness
- Location
Best times do not always determine or define a swimmer's success; not every meet should have an expectation of best times or attaining a season goal. Given our training and/or development cycle, seeing swimmers implement technique changes in a race environment is always a success. When selecting events for swimmers, coaches will consider these factors. In developing well rounded swimmers we are always looking to balance challenging a swimmer with new events and with having them swim their favorite events.
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Blazer Series
Blazer Series Intrasquad meets are designed for swimmers in our Age Group I and Age Group II competitive training groups. We developed these meets to help promote a positive and nurturing competitive experience for our young and novice swimmers new to the world of competition. This series is built into the training plan for both groups to help foster a growth mindset towards competing by hosting low-key, local swim meets held in one session.
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Invitational Meets
These swim meets are an important supplement to training. At these swim meets, build their racing skills, strategy (pacing). Swimmers can learn about their bodies - how to prepare for the races and how to recover in between races. Meets are sleeted in accordance with season training plans and every meet has different objectives. Swimmers are expected to attend these meets as outlined/recommended by their primary coach.
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MAL Championships
End of season meet for Age group swimmers not attending Championship meets. This meet is run as a Championship meet without time standards.
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Missouri Valley Swimming
Championship Meets
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Championship meets for our KC Blazers are listed below. Each meet has a time standard necessary to be eligible to enter. These are qualifying meets and they are the culmination of all of your training, hard work and dedication throughout the season. If eligible, Blazers swimmers are expected to attend. |
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MVS District Championships
District Championship meets are held twice a year; once for the Short Course season (prior to Champs) and once for the Long Course season (prior to Champs). The swimmer competes on an individual basis.
Who attends: Swimmers who have achieved a [MV Short Course or Long Course Districts time standard] are eligible to enter in the events for which they have qualified and are eligible for up to two Bonus events. These are Timed Final events.
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MVS Championships
Champs meets are held twice a year; once for the Short Course season (end of February; 25 yard pools) and once for the Long Course season (end of July; 50 meter pools). The swimmer competes both on an individual basis and for club points. The club also organizes relay teams to compete for club points. Similar to districts, this swim meet has qualifying time standards which are harder to achieve than District Q time standards. Swimmers need to be consistent with their training and work hard to be able to achieve these time standards.
Who attends: Swimmers who have achieved a [MV Short Course or Long Course Championship time standard] are eligible to enter in the events for which they have qualified and are eligible for up to two Bonus events for which they qualify.
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USA Swimming
Regional & National Meets
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Zones
USA Swimming divides the 59 LSCs into four zones: Eastern, Central, Southern and Western. Like each LSC, each zone holds championship invitational meets at the end of the summer seasons for select age group and senior swimmers for LSCs within that zone. “Zones” are the zonal championship meets for age group swimmers. At Zones, each LSC compiles a team of its fastest age group swimmers to compete against other LSCs in the same zone, and these swimmers compete under the name of their LSC (not their clubs).
Who attends: Swimmers who have achieved a ‘AAA’ Motivational Time Standard will be eligible to be a part of an all-star team representing Missouri Valley. Swimmers compete individually in their qualifying events and on relays as determined by the MoVal Zones Head Coach.
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Sectionals
USA Swimming divides the country into four Zones – Eastern, Western, Central and Southern – Like each LSC, each zone holds championship invitational meets at the end of the winter and summer seasons for select senior swimmers for LSCs within that zone. “Sectionals” are the zonal championship meets for senior swimmers and swimmers generally compete under their own club’s name. The Sectionals meets do not have age specified qualification time standards. There is only 1 time standard for all ages in every event.
Who attends: Swimmers who have achieved a qualifying time standard for one or more events.
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Futures Championships
A stepping stone between Sectionals and Junior Nationals.
Who attends: Swimmers who have achieved a qualifying time standard for one or more events.
National/Junior National Championship
This is one of the highest levels of competitive swimming. Swimmers must achieve specific time standards to attend the meet. From these meets, swimmers can be chosen for various national teams.
Who attends: Swimmers who have achieved a qualifying time standard for one or more events.
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Need new fins or a team suit?
Visit SwimQuik for all your Blazers equipment, apparel and spirit wear needs.
4876 W 135th St, Leawood, KS 66224
Call: 913.649.8456
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Thank you to our Sponsors! |
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